ARABIC CONFLUENCE FROM CONSTANTINE TO HERACLIUS: The Preparation for a 7th Century Religio-Racial Explosion

ARABIC CONFLUENCE FROM CONSTANTINE TO HERACLIUS: The Preparation for a 7th Century Religio-Racial Explosion

Grayson, Timothy R.

Published online, April 1, (1999)

Abstract

Among religious extremists, history undergraduates, various other sycophants, and the interested population a propagated myth or half-truth is manifest in the descriptions “Muslim explosion” and “Islamic conquest.” These descriptions refer to the single-generation religio-political tsunami called Islam that rolled from its origin in the western Arabian Peninsula to the extents of Spain, North Africa, and Persia. They imply Islam as being the critical factor, diminishing the import of the Arabic people and their circumstance vis à vis Byzantium prior to this expansion. I would contend that Islam’s importance—certainly its religious aspect—is overemphasized by these descriptions; that the explosion, such as it was, was Arabic; and that, in fact, the Arab “race” was on the verge of exploding in any event.